Upsidedownness

As Father Dominic reminded us this morning, what Jesus presents to us in the Beatitudes is not so much an exhortation on how to act but an invitation to notice who God is naming as most fortunate and chosen- those who are poor, forgotten, sad; those who are underachievers and losers according to the world's standards. Jesus points to the upsidedownness of life in the kingdom and calls us to view reality from a new perspective.

Photograph by Brother Brian.

A Storm

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!"
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?"
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"  Mark 4

We imagine Jesus exhausted after a very busy day of preaching and healing those desperate for his touch. He steps into the boat and immediately heads for the stern where he curls up in his cloak and rests his weary head on an old cushion that Peter always keeps there. A violent storm comes up, but Jesus already sound asleep, doesn't even stir. The boat is filling with water as waves break overhead, Jesus is getting drenched; still he sleeps on. Amazing. The apostles panic and shake him awake. His hair dripping wet, his clothes soaked through, he opens his eyes. "I am with you. There is nothing to fear." Then with majestic calm and authority, he rebukes the storm. "Shhhh! Quiet! Be still!" The sea, the wind know the voice of their Creator, their Master, the Word who called them into being; and they obey.

What is terrifying us? What is our greatest fear? Jesus is in the same boat with us, drenched in our humanity, one with us; his quiet healing presence never, ever far away. We can call out to him in confidence.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The Lord has robed himself with might;

he has girded himself with power.

The world you made firm, not to be moved;
your throne has stood firm from of old.

From all eternity, O Lord, you are.

The waters have lifted up, O Lord,
the waters have lifted up their voice;

the waters have lifted up their thunder.

Greater than the roar of mighty waters,

more glorious than the surgings of the sea,

the Lord is glorious on high.

Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your house,

O Lord, until the end of time.  Psalm 93

Picture by Brother Brian.

The Right Amount

We need never fear to love too much, but rather not to love enough. When we speak of loving too much, we mean in reality not loving enough; we mean loving some to the exclusion of others, and above all, we mean self-seeking and love of self. Therefore, that we may enter more fully in the spirit of our vocation, let us love more and more. Let us fear any want of sympathy, exclusiveness, local or national spirit, a tendency toward criticism. Let us love frankly, loyally, generously as Our Lord has loved us.

Lines from Mother Janet Stuart, RSCJ.

Feast of Our Founders

In God's providence our three Founders, Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen and their confreres, shared their lives with one another first at Molesme. Then taking their inspiration from Robert, they departed for Citeaux. After Robert  was called back to Molesme, a small remnant remained behind at Citeaux. From this second humble beginning, each monk was called to contribute in his own unique way to the ongoing story of what lay ahead. Robert had been charisma; Alberic became perseverance, and Stephen became structure and stability.

The entry of all these men into the stream of monastic history began much further back, when they were each put to the test- at the time of their entrance into the monastery and each was scrutinized to see "whether he was truly seeking God." Finding that such an intent was in their hearts meant that the Spirit was at work.  The ongoing fire of that search would be at the root of all that each would ever accomplish in God's plan for that first monastery at Citeaux. The search would be handed on little by little to the next generation, who in its turn would cooperate with God in the shaping of the Order. 

Eventually that day would come, when we too would be scrutinized and found worthy to begin, to take up our own share in the service of God in this house which is Spencer, each doing his best to hang on to the personal search as well as to his own share in Spencer's collaborative search for God.

Adapted and excerpted from Father Gabriel's homily for this morning's feast. Photographs by Brother Brian.

Conversion

In the midst of every conflict and division that the human heart can contrive, the Spirit of Jesus always seeks to draw us together and make us one. How often we resist; insisting that we know better, our individual plan will work best.

Overwhelmed by the nearness of the persecuted Jesus calling to him and blinded by the divine radiance, Paul falls to the ground, helpless and needy at last; all his old answers suddenly meaningless.

That’s what it took for Christ Jesus to get Paul’s attention and change his heart. What will it take to break our hearts open- as churches, nations, individuals? What have we heard and seen that will make us understand once and for all that unity, forgiveness, blessed compromise, deferring to one another out of love for Christ surpass everything?

As we complete this Octave of Prayer for Unity, let us pray that now, today we would listen to his voice and harden not our hearts, so that all may be one in him.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Conversion on the Way to Damascus, oil on canvas, 1600-01, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. 

Saint Francis de Sales

Do everything calmly and peacefully. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.

We are heartened by these words of Saint Francis de Sales, and we hear in them an echo of the words of today's responsorial psalm: 

Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the Lord,
and he stooped toward me.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."

For Life

In a kind of fortuitous liturgical coincidence today's memorial of Saint Marianne coincides with the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. And so at this morning's Mass, we heard this opening prayer: 

God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

We recall that in 1883 Sister Marianne Cope left New York with six sisters to minister to leprosy patients in Hawaii. She planned to remain only long enough to get them settled. But the patients’ great needs led her to remain in Hawaii for four decades; she would die there in 1918. Courageous, energetic and never daunted by any challenge, she loved the poor and most vulnerable. May the dedicated witness of Saint Marianne inspire us to reverence and protect all human life.